Them
by Tsubasa no Kokoro
Summary: When I landed myself in a mental ward, I never expected to meet someone crazier than me.
1. Chapter 1

That day I met him – them. That day I met them was a turning point in my life. Many people say those words – turning point in my life – then go on to tell a heart-breaking and moving story that makes you want to buy a large box of Kleenex and then rethink your life. I'm not sure that this is one of those stories. He – they. They would hate it if it was. They wouldn't want their lives to be Chicken Soup for the Deranged Soul material.

Maybe deranged is harsh. Maybe it's not.

All I'm saying is, this is a story. Nothing more, nothing less. A tale of them, and of me. But mostly him. Always him.

My parents realized one day that I had stopped eating, but kept throwing up. They realized that I had "imaginary friends" – which they considered unnatural for a 15-year-old girl for some reason. They thought there was something wrong with me so they sent me to the only place they thought they could – the nearest mental hospital. (Didn't see that one coming, did you?)

They checked me in and, feeling awkward, hugged me, said they'd call, and then left. I had seen this coming, but still – it was hard. Honestly, how could it not be? One of the nurses showed me around. She was nice, I suppose, but I didn't really care. (I will care, though, don't worry. I will care a lot.)

I was just being walked around, shown everything "important" (in other words, not necessary things like the_exit_, but things like the bathroom) when I saw him. Them. No, right now it was just him, alone. He was sort of just standing, contemplating life, I suppose, but when he felt me looking at him, he shifted his gaze to meet mine. He had long wavy blonde hair, past his shoulders and very light. He had deep black eyes and was so skinny. He had done something with the hospital clothes: they were black and made him look attractive, as opposed to the usually washed out and sallow looking white that everyone else wore. The black looked so natural on him that I almost didn't even notice the color at first. His eyes screamed mistrust and a barely concealed frustration. His skin was so pale…I completely loved him – those haunted eyes and perfectly aligned hair. The black against his white skin.

The nurse, apparently thinking I was an obedient puppy, still thought I was following her, unless she liked giving tours of the psych ward to herself.

I was lost in those eyes, lost and intrigued by their deep dark loveliness.

He stared me down until he couldn't take it anymore. "Will you stop looking at me? I think I'm gonna blister."

I giggled – which was precisely the wrong reaction, apparently. He blew up. (You may think that I'm describing his emotions here. But you would've thought he was going to spontaneously combust, too, if you had seen those pale cheeks turn angry red as quickly as I did.)

"Where the hell do you get off laughing at me? You just, waltz in here, stare me down, then laugh at me?"

He was so confident – oh, he was so perfect.

"You're just like everybody else – fucking thinking that I'm just that insane kid to laugh at. Fuck off. I don't care about anything, and I don't _need_ anything, especially a complete stranger laughing at –"

He stopped suddenly. That more than anything threw me off. He turned and walked into a room, shutting the door. But he was so calm in doing so. That scared me. He could yell and swear and I would be fine, but – no one could change emotions that quickly.

The nurse, finally realizing that I wasn't there with her, ran back and made me move on. In the middle of her explaining when meals were served, I asked her who the volatile boy in black was.

"If he was wearing black, he's one of the Mihaels. What did he act like?"

As I described his behavior, she explained, "Oh, we call him Mellow – since he's so emotional. I wouldn't go too near Mellow, if I were you."

Mellow. How witty. I rolled my eyes. I realized that the nurse was still talking, and I wanted as much information about Mellow as I could.

"…Mihael himself isn't too bad - he can cause some trouble, though. M can be smug and annoying, but otherwise he's okay. Mellow, though – watch out!"

I paused, realizing something odd in the way she was talking about them. "What do you mean? I don't…get it."

The nurse laughed. "Of course, you don't know. Mihael Keehl has multiple personality disorder."


	2. Chapter 2

The phrase, "What the fuck," crossed my mind, as did the one, "It figures." I completed my tour wordlessly and without paying attention.

Since I had arrived at about 10 am, lunch was being served by the time I was done – lunch was served early, at about 11. I was led to the cafeteria. The nurse waved as she walked away. I half-heartedly waved back, not in the mood for being polite.

To fill my loneliness, I conversed with the friends that talked only to me. I asked them if it mattered what food I took, since it wasn't like I was going to eat anyway. Charlotte said that it didn't matter, but that I should start eating again. It was times like these that I wished I could see them as well as hear them, since it was really hard to look guiltily away from someone who resided in your brain.

I grabbed whatever food was offered to me (I think that I ended up with a hot dog, an apple, and some chocolaty thing) and sat down alone in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs. I sat, looked at my food, and talked to my friends. My conversations were interrupted just a few moments later, though, with the sound of a tray being set down next to mine. I was definitely taken aback when (surprise!) it was the boy – boys? – from before.

"Hello," he said, in a slightly german accent, instead of the English cadence I was used to.

"Hello," I cautiously replied.

"You must have just arrived, otherwise I would've seen you earlier" – I choked back a laugh. Oh, the irony! – "My name's Mihael, and nice to meet you." He reached his right hand out to me. I just stared a little, and he reminded me that people _shake_ hands, they don't _stare_ hands.

I looked at his eyes, which were so different from the way they were when I had first met him only a half hour ago. They were almost bright and friendly – almost, but not quite. They still contained a shade of the mistrust that I had seen.

I shook his hand and said, "Nice to meet you, Mihael. I'm Kate. I have friends that live in my head and I don't eat. How are you?"

He replied, "Well enough for someone who has MPD, and you?"

"Oh, just brilliant. You know, mental hospitals are _the_ in place to be."

"Why, of course. Everybody interesting knows that."

He had an awkward smile – one that seemed more suited for laughing _at_ people instead of _with_ them. That feeling was confirmed as he said, "Usually I detest people, but I think I might not detest yet."

"That's odd," I replied, not knowing if what I was about to say would make him very angry or not, "since not even an hour ago, you cursed at me – quite rudely, too."

His smile faltered and a troubled expression took over his face. "Mellow."

I nodded.

"You see, I really am three different…do you know this?"

"Yeah, the nurse told me about you after…well, after I met you."

He looked down. "I don't remember what I do when I'm them. It's like I have three different brains – one roughly normal, one bipolar and unstable, and one genius. I can't control it at all, but they've tried every method they could to 'fix me'." His already dark expression grew darker and more introverted, and I wondered if this was what he looked like before he switched. I decided to keep talking to see if that would keep Mihael with me.

"You mean like if Charlotte and Ferdinand and Tori actually acted visibly to other people instead of just talking to me?"

"Yeah, I suppose."

Then he laughed, rather meanly. " What awful names! Did you pick them yourself?"

I frowned. "Oh, yeah, because 'Mello' and 'M' are just the best names _I_ ever heard."

"You're going to have to take that up with them. Those are their names, not mine. And I'm damn glad, too. Hey, are you going to eat that?"

"No. I don't do eating. It's messy and gross."

"Admittedly," he said, picking up the chocolaty mass and shoving it in his mouth. "Come on, I'll give you some tips on how to deal with Mellow and M. I want all of us to not detest you."

I was surprised, to say the least. He seemed like the type to want to be alone. There's no way he could've accepted me so quickly.

He got up and threw away his untouched tray of food. Halfway through the cafeteria door, he turned around and waved for me to follow. Not know where any of this would end up, I followed, crossing the threshold of both the door and my life before I had met them.


End file.
